a blog of firsts

NPR headquarters

Sound official? It should. Never had I ever been to event at NPR headquarters. Scratch that, never had anyone been to an event there.

That’s right. On Saturday night my cousin had her birthday party there for the first ever event in their new building.

It was awesome. You see that glass part? That is where the tables were set up for dinner. When we arrived, we went back into another room-a studio of sorts for drinks. Anne is known for her gift closet. An actual closet that I have seen, filled with sundries to give to people on holidays. Socks and books are a favorite. Anne decided to turn the tables on the typical birthday and had a bag for all of us with things from the closet.

I ended up with a fleece vest. I think that was the best pick of the night.

After some mingling, bleachers came out of the wall and we were invited to sit and watch one of the new shows (a mock version).

This was amazing. I LOVE NPR talk shows. As in, I download the podcasts to 3 weekly (Wait, Wait Don’t tell me, Car Talk and This American Life). The host of this show, Ophira Eisenberg has a wit that is sure to draw audiences. Julian Velard is a piano player who changed the names in songs from women to men and the contestants had to tell him the actual name in the song. This was surprisingly hilarious and his voice was mesmerizing.

Pretty great night. After the show we moved into the Lobby for dinner, which was great, while a band played. This band could fill in on Saturday Night Live for a sketch about NPR. They were classic. All must have been over 70 and there was a man with this shirt on: